Sharing cinematic experiences one movie review at a time…plus, something extra here and there

Movie review: Deadpool 2

Welcome to a review of Deadpool 2. Took me absolutely forever (4 weeks and 3 screenings) to finally write it.

IMDb summary: Foul-mouthed mutant mercenary Wade Wilson (AKA. Deadpool), brings together a team of fellow mutant rogues to protect a young boy with supernatural abilities from the brutal, time-traveling cyborg, Cable.

Writing

The Deadpool sequel was written by the same duo that wrote the first film – Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, however, this time around, the star of the movie – Ryan Reynolds – also got a writing credit. I thought that the second film’s writing was fairly similar to the first one’s writing in that, the screenwriters took a familiar plot and packaged it in new and exciting ways. While the first film was an origin story of sorts, the sequel did the typical superhero sequel thing and took away the familiar things from the hero, taught him a lesson, and expanded the universe. And yet, while we all have seen these elements before, they still felt fresh because they were accompanied by that unique to Deadpool tone: humor, references to the real world, the 4th wall breaks, etc. The Easter Eggs were plentiful and I don’t know if any one person can actually get all of them, I certainly didn’t. The Mid-Credits scenes contained the best jokes so make sure you wait for them! (Although you have probably already seen the movie as I’m so late with this review).

And yet, while Deadpool 2 was similar to the first film in a lot of ways, it also felt different because it came across as more sincere – seriously emotional (this come from the loss and the lesson elements in the picture). It also felt very comic-book and had an ending that combined Logan’sand Doctor Strange’s 3rd acts (save a kid + play with time). Cable worked well in the story, though his first appearance felt a bit out of nowhere. In general, this picture engrained itself more into the X-Men lore but in true Deadpool fashion, did not fully commit.

Directing

David Leitch – the one half of the directing duo behind John Wick and the director of Atomic Blonde – helmed Deadpool 2 and did a spectacular job. The hand to hand combat was good and the bigger budget was well utilized on the bigger explosive action scenes. The pacing worked well too and the emotional core of the movie was also handled well. The soundtrack was fun too (what’s dubstep tho?:D).

Acting

Ryan Reynolds pulled double duty as both Wade Wilson / Deadpool and Juggernaut and was absolutely incredible. Nobody can deny that he was born to be Deadpool, not just play the role but fully embody it. Josh Brolin was amazing as Cable and topped his very recent performance as Thanos! Morena Baccarin returned as Vanessa and had some neat scenes. Hunt for the Wilderpeople’sJulian Dennison joined the cast as Russell Collins / Firefist alongside another newcomer Zazie Beetz as Domino. Both of them were great and I can’t wait to see more of them in X-Force (potentially/probably). T.J. Miller (Ready Player One) also appeared in a film and in a significantly reduced role, probably because of all the legal issues that surround him. Brianna Hildebrand returned as Negasonic Teenage Warhead, while Deadpool’s BFF Colossus was again voiced by Stefan Kapičić. The movie also featured some fun cameos by Terry Crews, Bill Skarsgård,Rob Delaney, Brad Pitt, Alan Tudyk, and Matt Damon.

In short, Deadpool 2 is similar to the first film but also tops it with a stronger emotional core and more expensive action!